Hub construction.



. J. P. LAVIGNE.

HUB CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2?. 1914.

JOSEPH I. LAVIGNE, O'.E DETROIT, MICHIGN.

HUB CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. in, rani.

Application filed November 27, 1914. Serial No. 874,171.

T0 all wkom it may conern:

Be it knWn that I, JOSEPH P. .LAVIGNE, a oitizen of the United States of America, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hub Construction, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying draWings.

A great many automobile manufacturers or builders are making or adopting Wire Wheels for their machines and by Wire wheels, I inean vehicle wheels having metallic -hubs, wire spokes etc. On account of being compara tively light in weight, it is the present practice to... carry one or more completely equipped wheels that can be substituted for a driven Wheel should the tire thereof be punctured or a driven Whcel otherwise injured. T 0 permit of Wheels being exchanged with considerable facility and at the same time insure a positive and reliable connection between a Wheel and an aXle or the supporting member thereof, is the principal -object of my invention.

Another object of my invention is to provide a simple and durable locking device for Simultanedusly retaining the hub of a Whee1 upon an aXle or support and a cap -or closure"upon the end of the hub, thus preventing either from becoming. accidentally displaced.

A further object of this invention is to provide a locking device embodying a resilient member arranged and held whereby a partial rotation of the same retracts the ends of said member and releases the device held thereby.

. The above and other objects are attained by a mechanical construction that will be hereinafter specifically described and then claimed, and-refererice will riow be had to the drawing, Wherein Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a hub construction in accordance' with this invention, showing 'a locking device thereof in a closed or extcnded position; Fig. 2 is a similar view of a portion of the same, showing the locking device in an open or retracted position; Fig. 3 is an elevation of the inner end of the hub, partly broken ,away and 'upon a smaller scale, and Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line IVIV ofFig. 1. v

In describingmy invention by aid of the views above referred to,I -desire to point out that I intend the same as merely illustrative of an example whereby my invention may be applied in practice, and I do not care to limitthe invention to the precise arrangement and construction of parts shown. The following description is therefore to be broadly construed as includin'g V substitute arrangements and constructions that are the obvious equivalent of those shown.

In the draWing, 1 denotes a portion of an aXle having a spindle 2, collars 3 and a screwthreaded Stem 4. Mounted upon the collars 3 are hall race members 5 and 6 for anti-frictional halls 7 which are retained in engagement with the membcrs 5 and 6 by oup-shaped menibers 8 and 9. Thesemembers are, mounted in the crowned or bellshaped ends of a tapering spindle hub or shell 10 that has the inner end thereof provided with a peripheral fiange 11 and the ou ter end extended to copera te with a cap 12 in providing an inclosure or housing for the outer end of the axle spindle.

The peripheral fiange 11 of the spindle hub or shell 10 is provided with circumferentially arranged openinqs or slots 13 to receive spaced lugs 14 carried by the inner or large end of a tapering wheel hub 15, said wheel hub having the outer or small end thereof engaging the outer crowned end of the spindle hub 10. The hub 15 is made of sheet metal and attached to said hub are the inner ends of spokes 16, said spokes having the outer ends thereof suitably connected to a felly or rim 17.

The spindle hub 10 has diametrically opposed Walls thereof, at the outer end of said hub, proVided with openings 18, and communicating with said openings are grooves 19, said groovesextending in the direction of the circumference of the outer threaded portion 21 and the flared end Of' 4 said cap are circumferentially arranged offset portions 23 providing spaced grooves or recesses 24 in the inner Wall of the cap.

An ordinary nut is scre wed upon the stem 4: and should this nut become accidentally displaced, the cap 12 preVents thesame from becoming los t. To look the cap uponthe outer end of the spindle hub and coperate therewith in retaining the wheel hub 15 in engagement With the spindle hub, 1

employ a novel locking member 26 adapted to be housed in the outer end of the spindle hub. This member is semi-circular andis of the bowed locking member 26 is out avyay or of less thi0kness or diameter than the ends thereof to add resiliency to said member and thus permit of said member being easfly manipulated. As shown in Fig. 4, the outei end of the spindle hub 10 readily receives the member 26 and the resiliency of said member is suflicient to retain the ends thereof in the grooves 19 and the openings l8. Whenthe member 26 is swung outwardly, as shown in Fig. 2, the material bordering upon the inner ends of the openings 18 serves as cana surfaces for retracting the ends of the member and the ins 27 are sufficiently withdrawn to permit of the cap 12 being unscrewed and the Wheel hub 15 removed fromthe spindle hub.

In assembling the parts of the hub or plac ing the wheel hub 15 in engagement With the spmdle hub l0, it is only necessary to insert the lugs M of the hub 15 in the openings 13 of the flange 11, swing the member- 26 into the outer end of the hub 10 and then screw the cap 12 upon the outer end of the hub 10. The resiliency of the member 26 allows the pins 27 to recede as the cap 12 is screWed home, and should the member 26 protrde from the outer end of the hub 10 the cap 12 will-engage said member-and gradually swing the same into the outer end of said hub. Furthermore, the resiliency of said member 26 causes the same to snap into a locked position as the outer portion .of said member enters the housing formed by the outer end of the spindle hub 10, and when in. a locked position, the cap.

, 12 is prevented from uecoming accidentally displaced, yet it may be manually removed by reason of the pins 27 receding as the cap is rotated.

As illustrated b dotted limes in Fig. 1, the

Wheel hub 15 can e readily interlocked With a brake drum 28, carried by the spindle hub 10 and. in consequence of this construction a Wheel can Le shifted from one axle to another. Fol instance, 'Sh'ould the tire of a rear aXle wheel be punctured, it is possible to exchange the punctured Wheel With a front axle Wheel and thus place the punctured Wheel Where it Will receive the least load till such time thaflthe tire can be repaired or a new one substituted therefor. However,the exchangeability of the wheels is second in importance to that of the noel locking member 26, as this member serves 1. In a hub construction, an inner hub,

an outer hub detachably mounted thereon, a

cap mounted upon said inner hub. and en gaging said outer hub, and retractble meang 1n said inner hub and ada led to simultaneously look said outer h and said cap upon said inner hub.

2. In a locking devicefor hubs, the combination with a hub having a detachable cap, of a resilient member housed within said hub and having retractable ends protruding f1om said hub and adaptedtg look said cap against accidental displacerfient and permit of said cap ,being manually removed from said hub.

3. In a locking device for hubs, the combination with a hub having a detachable cap, of a locl ing member movably arranged in said hub and having ends thereof protruding from diametrically opposed sides of said hub to engage said cap and prevent accidental displacernent thereof.

4. In a locking device for hubs, the combination with a hub having a dtachable cap of a locking menwer within said hub an having retractable ends protruding theref1om and engaging said cap and capable of being retracted by a swinging movement of said member.

5. In a hub construction, inner and outer hubs, and a locking device movably supported within said inner hub and having ends protruding therefrom to engage. said outer hub, and mean s whereby the ends of said member can be retracted by a swinging movement thereof.

6. In a hub construction, an inner hub having a peripheral flange, an outer hub having the inner nd thereof interlocked w1th the flange of said inner hub, a cap detachably. mo'unted upon the outer end -of JOSEPH P. LVIGNE.

Witnesses ANNA M. DORR, O'ITO F. BARTHEL.

said inner hub and engaging the outer end of said outer hub, and means protruding from the walls of said inner hub and adapt ed to look said c.p in engagement With the 3 outer end of said enter hub.

7. In a hub construction, inner and outer hubs, and a, member swiveled in said inner hub and adapted to be swung threin to proopiem of this patent niay be obtained for ve cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of JEatents,

4 Washflngton, D.G. 

